10 years since death of David “Gypsy” Chain

A decade has passed since David Nathan “Gypsy” Chain died in the redwood forest above Grizzly Creek State Park while trying to halt a Pacific Lumber logging operation that he believed violated state laws.

But none of the events of that time exposed the ugliness of the rift in Humboldt County as the death and aftermath of September 17, 1998. It started with the outrage of the logger, A.E. Ammons, who threatened to aim falling trees at activists if they didn’t get out of the woods — and then did exactly that.

Ammons said he didn’t know the activists were still present when he fell the tree, but admits he would have beaten them with a stick if he’d caught them. Shortly before cutting the final tree, Ammons wished aloud for his pistol.

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“A memorial near the death site that was established as part of the settlement has been repeatedly vandalized.”

That link was from Sept 2007. You have one vandalism. Do you have proof of others?

Nobody But Me

September 17, 2008 at 7:03 am

People who complain about Gallegos don’t remember that just ten years ago you could LITERALLY get away with murder in Humboldt County, with the good old boys not even bothering to pretend to hold a legitimate investigation.

Thanks, Heraldo, for reminding us of how dark things truly were.

anon

September 17, 2008 at 8:18 am

If you read the report that Farmer’s office produced at the time he announced that no charges would be filed against ANYONE, you will see in black and white that charges were considered against the logger and against EF! in equal measure.
According to documents accompanying that report, in two separate taped statements two EF persons present, including Chain’s
“woods buddy”, a young woman, stated that Chain was well aware the tree was about to fall and recommended that the group stay out of the way, but he was persuaded by others to go forward, and was thus killed.

Nobody But Me

September 17, 2008 at 8:31 am

Sorry, 8:18. Audio of an enraged logger shouting curses and threats to down a tree on top of activists. A tree downed. A boy killed. A sheriff’s investigator who coaches the murderer as to what to say. A murderer who says he’d hit the kid again. And a DA who tries to charge the activists with murder.

That’s the reality. Spin it as you like, but the common-sense facts remain: AE Ammons is a murderer who got away with his crime thanks to the criminality of Terry Farmer and the entire Humboldt Sheriff’s office. The feds should have been on Humboldt and thrown the entire criminal justice system into prison.

lodgepole

September 17, 2008 at 8:36 am

If only Jerry hadn’t died…

Nobody But Me

September 17, 2008 at 8:39 am

T R A N S C R I P T

Zoe Zalia: Here we go. There’s a clearcut right ahead of us. This is what it looks like after they clearcut. In the background you can see what it looks like before they clearcut

You fuckin’ cocksuckers [ … ] in the trees and let the fuckin’ people who don’t know what’s goin’ on go to fuckin’ jail. We had patience yesterday. I stopped yesterday!

[inaudible]

Get the fuck out of here! You’ve got me hot enough now to fuck!

We don’t want to cause you any problems.

You already have! So get out of here! You cocksuckers! I mean it!

When CDF comes out here they’ll tell you to stop.

When the motherfucker shows up and tells me to stop, I’ll stop!

… work … Well we should give ’em a chance to show up.

Why the fuck weren’t they here early this morning?

They were here early this morning?

I said, “Why weren’t they here early this morning!”

Because they’re in the company’s pocket. So now…

They’re in the company’s pocket? That’s why they’re fuckin’ with us everyday, yeah?

They’re not fuckin’ with you everyday, otherwise they would be out here this morning. That’s the thing.

Get outta here! Otherwise I’ll fuckin’, I’ll make sure I got a tree comin’ this way!

Alright, well let’s not talk about that. You know we’re not gonna…

Cocksucker!

[ … ]

That’s all I heard out of you motherfuckers yesterday!

[ … ]

(Another logger) Why don’t you go over there and harass the other fuckin’ crew?

[ … ]

Why don’t you get outta this fuckin’ plan and go to the fuckin’ trees that ain’t been approved! We don’t cut anything that ain’t been approved, otherwise we go to fuckin’ jail for it!

[ … ]

Where you cocksuckers belong for being out here and fuckin’ with us!

[ … ]

Oh, fuck! I wish I had my fuckin’ pistol! I guess I’m gonna just start packin’ that motherfucker in here. ‘Cause I can only be nice so fuckin’ long. Go get my saw, I’m gonna start fallin’ into this fuckin’ draw!

Red

September 17, 2008 at 8:40 am

Well, the problem with that argument, Nobody but me, is that there is no statute of limitations on murder and PVG has been in office since 2003. So then he is equally complicit in the conspiracy to allow loggers to fell trees onto hippies.

Nobody But Me

September 17, 2008 at 8:46 am

Here’s an excerpt from the transcript of the audio, Red.

“Oh, fuck! I wish I had my fuckin’ pistol! I guess I’m gonna just start packin’ that motherfucker in here. ‘Cause I can only be nice so fuckin’ long. Go get my saw, I’m gonna start fallin’ into this fuckin’ draw!”

Is Ammons in jail (for his murder of Chain)? No.
Is Ammons a murderer: Yes.

Was W ever elected President? No.
Is Bush in the White House? Yes.

You see, Red, just because the powers in charge say that white is black doesn’t mean we have to believe it.

Anonymous

September 17, 2008 at 8:48 am

A boy killed.

He was a minor? I never read that. I thought he was a responsible thinking adult who knowingly put himself directly in harm’s way.

Nobody But Me

September 17, 2008 at 8:52 am

No, 8:48. The “responsible thinking adult” was the drunk, cursing logger, who had a deadly weapon and used it, against his company’s policy and against every moral code known to mankind outside of Humboldt County.

It’s a valid question. Why show the clean cut (high school?) photo? Because the image chosen will engender more sympathy, that’s why. It’s a shame propaganda has to be employed in remembering this man.

Anonymous

September 17, 2008 at 9:57 am

On second thought, propaganda is probably too strong a word. It’s a shame persuasive tactics have to be employed. The facts are persuasive enough.

Anonymous

September 17, 2008 at 10:02 am

yep, Farmer’s approach to this incident was one of the reasons I voted for Gallegos. Not that I had any idea who Gallegos was, I just knew that he wsn’t Terry Farmer. Gallegos’ critics mostly point to what he hasn’t done (except Rose, who is thoroughly obsessed). But it behooves us to remember what the DA’s office was really like back then. Defending the pepper spraying cops at the cost to the County of hundreds of thousands of dollars, despite the fact that the plaintiffs wanted to settle for agreement to not use pepper spray on non-violent protestors. Acting as though state law on medical marijuana did not apply because he (and the sheriffs and Eureka cops) disagreed with it. Ah, the bad old days.

Anonymous

September 17, 2008 at 10:12 am

Gallegos’ critics mostly point to what he hasn’t done

Huh? Gallegos’ critics point to what he has tried and failed to accomplish.

John Doe 86

September 17, 2008 at 10:13 am

Yeah Rose, you’re right, we should pick the worst pictures to memorialize our friends on the day of their passing.

It might shock a few bigots to hear this but when Gypsy died his hair was even shorter than that.

Red

September 17, 2008 at 10:46 am

NobodyBM, as I recall that statement was made approximately an hour before he actually felled the tree which resulted in Mr. Chain’s death. Shortly after Mr. Ammons made that statement the various hippies involved ran off into the woods and were creeping around, hidiong from the loggers. There is no evidence that Mr. Ammon had any idea that any of them were still out there, or that any reasonable person under those circumsyances would have known anyone was out there. And you have not answered my point, which is that if it’s such an open and shut murder, then why hasn’t PVG filed it? Because it stinks on ice, that’s why. Ask yourself this, crappy does a case have to be that PVG won’t file it?

Red

September 17, 2008 at 10:47 am

That’s hiding, circumstances, and “how crappy.”

Anonymous

September 17, 2008 at 11:02 am

Red, don’t start throwing facts at us. We’d rather remember the guy as a saint, a martyr fighting the evil loggers.

Nobody But Me

September 17, 2008 at 11:14 am

Red, the audio is much more chilling than the transcript — Ammons hatred comes through much more clearly.

I remember listening to it years ago, but I can’t locate a working version on line any more. I believe the audio was much closer to the time of the murder than one hour, but I’m not sure that that is relevant.

I have not said it’s an open and shut case. To prove a murder beyond a reasonable doubt is sometimes impossible but that doesn’t mean a death was not a murder. When someone like Sheriff’s investigator Juan Freeman has told the murderer what to say, it makes it difficult to convict. When Terry Farmer, the DA in charge, had threatened to charge the witnesses to the murder with murder themselves, it makes it difficult to convict. When the jury pool would be selected from people who think their livelihood depends on finding the logger not guilty, it’s difficult to convict.

Just because I cannot prove in a court of law that the sun will come up tomorrow does not mean it will not. Just because Gallegos has not chosen to file a case against AE Ammons does not mean AE Ammons is not a murderer. Ammons is a murderer. The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Department assisted him in getting off. The Humboldt County District Attorney should have been disbarred. I can’t prove any of it, but we all know it to be true.

“One of the group, Carey Jordan, said they hadn’t talked directly to the loggers for 15 to 20 minutes, but were making noise and talking among themselves while they ate lunch. “He knew we were around. He was talking to his helper like he was talking to us, dropping little comments and hints, like, ‘ I wonder which way I’m going to fall this. I hope they got a hard hat on.'” The group told sheriff’s investigators that they believed Ammons knew they were there and intended to drop the tree near them to scare them.”

Nobody But Me

September 17, 2008 at 11:31 am

The protesters said the tree was dropped fifteen to twenty minutes since Ammons had been shouting.

But Ammons told the sheriff, according to the SF Examiner:
“I’d say an hour, it could have been a half-an-hour. I
don’t relate to time . . . I all but . . . forgot about them
’cause it had been . . . so quiet.”

So he just forgot they were there, after cursing them out as if he were an insane man.

Red

September 17, 2008 at 11:33 am

Oh, well then, NBM, if we are talking about our FEELINGS, then that’s different. Why should we focus on evidence and facts that can be proven in court when we can talk about how cutting down trees makes our tummies hurt.

Anybody see the episode of “Intervention” that took place Humboldt County? Well, the guy brave enough to put himself on national TV is not the only tweaker to work out in the woods. It wouldn’t surprise me if Ammons was, given the crass attitude and reckless disregard.

Nobody But Me

September 17, 2008 at 11:40 am

I support loggers, Red. It’s murderers and their accomplices that I think should be jailed. But good effort on the ridicule.

Cap, I thought I remembered another incident of defacing Gypsy’s monument. Here is an excerpt from the LA Times

” The following month, on Sept. 17, 2004, Allsbrooks [Gypsy’s Mother] gathered at the roadside memorial with more than three dozen others to mark the sixth anniversary of her son’s death.

His impish face is sculpted in relief on a granite block beneath a cluster of redwood trees off Highway 36. Someone had poured tar over it. Shunka gently peeled it off. “Hippy” was scratched in the stone.”

it’s awfully ignorant lurking around old growth redwoods after the guy cutting them says he’s gonna drop one your way…

Anonymous

September 17, 2008 at 1:29 pm

Fact: He made sure a tree went that way.

Jaded opinion presented as fact.

Red

September 17, 2008 at 1:37 pm

OK Heraldo, cutting down trees does not make your tummy hurt. Duly noted, good to know.

Tom Sebourn

September 17, 2008 at 1:52 pm

It is better that we have a D.A. that tries to do the right thing and fails than to have one that consistently does the wrong thing and wins.

Herald ho ho

September 17, 2008 at 2:21 pm

Gypsy was a naive , idealistic and I’m sure well meaning kid. The woods during a timber falling operation is a dangerous place to start with but it’s even more dangerous if you’re using it as your forest defender playground. What he did is akin to running accross a freeway with a blindfold and then when you get killed, accusing the driver that hit you of murder. I’m absolutely sure Mr. Ammon did not mean to drop that tree on the kid. He was pissed and said so, but to call it murder is just stupid. Still- my condolences to Gypsy’s family. It’s a tragedy on many levels.

Red

September 17, 2008 at 2:58 pm

So Tom, does that mean that you believe that competence is inconsistent with doing the right thing? I mean, have you just given up on the idea of having a DA who can attempt to do the right thing (whatever the hell that is to you) and succeed? That’s kind of sad, really.

Nobody But Me

September 17, 2008 at 3:20 pm

No, 2:21, it was not “akin to running across a freeway with a blindfold…[and]…accusing the driver that hit you of murder.”
To use your freeway metaphor, David had stopped traffic on the freeway, and then a driver with road rage chose to accelerate and run him over.

I’m sure you can see the difference in culpability.

That difference is why those who want to rewrite history just pretend the logger couldn’t have known the activists were nearby.

Herald ho ho

September 17, 2008 at 3:38 pm

I’m absolutely sure in my heart that Mr. Ammon did not chose to drop the tree on Mr. Chain. He was devastated by this and if you kept up with the news reports at the time , you’ll see that this consistently came out. It’s not fair at all to accuse someone of murder just because it fits your agenda of “all opposition is evil, all of your guys are saints.” Really.

Nobody But Me

September 17, 2008 at 3:45 pm

I don’t doubt that, once he realized he’d committed murder, A E Ammons was devastated. It would be a devastating discovery. I wish, in addition to his devastation, he was serving life in prison without possibility of parole. You know, like a murderer.

Nobody But Me

September 17, 2008 at 3:49 pm

And where, ho ho, do you come off claiming some of us have an agenda of “all opposition is evil, all of your guys are saints.” You don’t know me.

All you know about me is that I know AE Ammons is a murderer who was intentionally let off by people like former DA Terry Farmer, Sheriff’s investigator Juan Freeman, and the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Department.

Anonymous

September 17, 2008 at 4:05 pm

Chains death was also not a singular event. There are countless stories of forest defenders being shot at, vehicles burned, harassing phone calls and all kinds of various threats. The response from the county was horrible, and it was only a matter of time someone would get killed. The county has come a long long way since the 1990’s. Both Philp and Gallegos have been a major improvement, no matter how imperfect.

Herald ho ho

September 17, 2008 at 4:28 pm

I think you may actually believe that Mr. Ammon deliberately killed Mr. Chain. I think you’re very wrong but I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt that you’re not just mouthing the usual platitudes. That would be even more offensive than your unfounded murder accusation.

It is better that we have a D.A. that tries to do the right thing and fails than to have one that consistently does the wrong thing and wins.

That’s the kind of twisted interpretation of the facts of Gallegos’ tenure that gets reported on KMUD… never mind that he steps on people’s civil rights (usually a big deal with you guys) – as long as it is Paul doing it it is ok by you, never mind that the prosecutor is you real first line of defense, they are obligated to consider exculpatory evidence just as much as the damning evidence, and NOT bring a case they cannot hope to prove.

It is your basic lack of understanding what is and isn’t real and right when it comes to the DA’s office that lets you make IGNORANT statements like that Tom Sebourn, and colors your station’s outlook and coverage.

He’s not there to make activists feel better, and file charges to make a point.

Goddammmm it, people, wake up.

Herald ho ho

September 17, 2008 at 4:52 pm

True words Rose. You gotta try hard to deny the logic of that.

anonymous

September 17, 2008 at 5:21 pm

First degree murder or at the very least, negligent homicide. You do not fire your weapon in the general direction of people or drop a redwood tree. It’s just common sense and a practical safety precaution. The usual biased suspects disagree. They probably haven’t taken a hunter safety course.

anonymous

September 17, 2008 at 5:27 pm

The previous threat to murder the activists points to intent.

anonymous

September 17, 2008 at 5:40 pm

Rose doing cartwheels and shouting IGNORANT is what passes for logic among the those who are biased and emotionally incapable of thinking logically. One should try to keep their emotions from elevating beyond what is considered an acceptable level of sanity.

Red

September 17, 2008 at 6:22 pm

You freaking sea monkeys make me tired. Pray explain, how does one aim a tree?

Tom Sebourn

September 17, 2008 at 6:43 pm

I didn’t mean to run away, I had to cover a fire.
I still think that when people or corporations break the law, a good D.A. should try to prosecute. The fact that he has lost some important cases sucks, but at least he tried.
Rose,
as for twisted interpreting of the facts, that’s what all of us do. It’s selective perception in order to benefit ourselves.
I never said I was as smart as you, I just have 5 thousand watts and lots of advertisers that like what we do on kgoe.
I read as much as I can and don’t report on what I know nothing about unless it’s straight off the A.P.
What on air example do you have Rose that my ignorance has colored my stations coverage? Coverage of what?

A willow can be used as a catapult. Bend it down, load something,
maybe a cream pie, into a pouch an aim it in the direction of Red.

olphart

September 17, 2008 at 7:10 pm

Timber fallers aim a tree in a general direction. No guaranteed that it will land exactly on the spot.

anonymous

September 17, 2008 at 7:13 pm

Just stand where I tell ya Red and place your bet.

Right of left, left of Right

September 17, 2008 at 7:15 pm

Red, they can aim a tree. I had a 4 ft diamer 150 something foot redwood at my house not 8 feet from the windows in the crook of an L, and a tree guy felled it (falled?) it to lay down exactly as he predicted. It was a beautiful tree but it was lifting up my foundation, and I worried it would fall on my house. Yes, they can “aim” a tree. But this guy, Ammons, I don’t believe he would actually hurt anyone intentionally. He will suffer from the memory of this.

anonymous

September 17, 2008 at 7:23 pm

On the other hand he did threaten to kill them before he actually did kill one of them. When do you think A.E. Ammons changed his mind?

anonymous

September 17, 2008 at 7:26 pm

Perhaps it was after he sobered up.

Right of left, left of Right

September 17, 2008 at 7:41 pm

Sometimes I think people are mad and make empty threats, but a guy like Ammons would not ever really hurt a person. It’s against his personal ideals.

He is a traditional sort who is angered by these “hippie” types who get in the way of his job. In this case, they were accusing him of logging illegally and it was found later that he was logging legally. There were no endangered species in that grove, certainly not plovers, which live near the beach.

He saw this intrusion as a threat to his livlihood and fought back the way he knows how- threats to “pound” someone, but he would not actually hurt a person.

And, Tom, when he is returned to private practice, when the time comes you need a lawyer to defend you, I hope you hire him. And good luck to ya.

In the meantime, tell me where Gallegos tried to do the right thing…

Think about Sean Marsh. Should that case have been dug up and filed, putting that man through hell for letting his kid walk in front of him – to send a message to other parents, as I recall?

Think about Debi August – evidence that was supposed to be turned over to the court and to the defense WASN’T. That is a violation of civil rights.

Think about Douglas and Zanotti. The DA had an obligation to present exculpatory evidence to the Criminal Grand Jury. He did not.

He filed your beloved Palco case against all recommendations. He plotted to file that suit, allowed a supporter into the DA’s office to help with the suit. His (Ken Miller’s) case did not have any legal merit and failed to make it to trial – he appealed it and appealed it, all the way to the Supreme Court of CA.

It’s fine with you, I guess since you approve of the targets, but you have to think about what this represents. You have to put YOURSELF in the place of the targets. Do you want a DA who willfully withholds evidence, and violates YOUR civil rights?

Maybe you do. I don’t.

It’s funny because I hear you guys bitching all the time about the “Bush administration” violating civil rights – this is something happening RIGHT HERE and all you do is applaud it…

Heh. Now my comment is awaiting moderation with no bad language and no links.

Just want to add that loggers die every year in the woods. It is a dangerous job. It is no place for people to be hanging out.

David Chain was a victim of the people who use idealistic young people like him to garner headlines. He thought he was doing something good. He didn’t know he was being used. Just like Shunka. Just like the others. The big money rewards from their idealistic little stunts flow to others behind the scenes. That’s who you should be blaming.

anonymous

September 17, 2008 at 7:53 pm

You knew David Chain? Rose?

anonymous

September 17, 2008 at 7:56 pm

You are making a wildly inaccurate statement, Rose.

Right of left, left of Right

September 17, 2008 at 7:56 pm

Yes, this is about a good and nice, idealistic young man who was easily influenced, and the others in his group were as well. They wanted to make a difference but they didn’t know how to do it. Such a sad story. The logger also had his ideals about what was right, and these kids threatened him. I think it was an unfortunate accident.

anonymous

September 17, 2008 at 8:19 pm

A.E. Ammons may have felt threatened. He reacted angrily and threatened to get his gun. He threatened to drop a tree on them. He then dropped a tree on David. If everybody in the woods was so idealistic why was A.E. Ammons felling trees while impaired? Why did A.E. Ammons threaten to commit murder? Why did A.E. Ammons carry out his threat. A.E. Ammons’ behavior doesn’t resemble any kind of idealism that I’m familiar with. Unless dangerously elevated anger that became deadly aggression has become a form of idealism. Maybe thats it?

Anonymous

September 17, 2008 at 8:22 pm

Why bother to comment? Nobody’s gonna change their mind, nohow.

anonymous

September 17, 2008 at 8:25 pm

Nice looking young man wasn’t he.

Right of left, left of Right

September 17, 2008 at 8:51 pm

Yes, nice looking, and I am sure his family loved him. He did not make such wise decisions, but he did try to make it a better world.

David’s memorial was definitely vandalized repeatedly. So today a few gathered at the Southern Humboldt Community Park where the memorial has been moved to.

Rose said,
“Just want to add that loggers die every year in the woods. It is a dangerous job. It is no place for people to be hanging out.”

Yes, but not because hippies kill them.

“David Chain was a victim of the people who use idealistic young people like him to garner headlines.”

I might entertain that idea in an abstract sense, but the fact is that David was the victim of another humans intention for violence. He was a professional tree faller and knew exactly how to cut down trees. Let’s not insult the man’s skill-set now.

Right of left, left of Right

September 17, 2008 at 10:10 pm

Yes, the man was a professional tree faller, but he was also not a person with a record and did not have a violent past. Redneck talk does not make one a murderer.

anonymous

September 17, 2008 at 10:12 pm

Band together to fight the illegitimate and anti-democratic power of corporations, their lobbyists that get laws re-written that hurt the middle class and the environment, and their expensive lawyers whose delaying tactics bankrupt the opposition and allow their clients to get away with thefts of the commons.

anonymous

September 17, 2008 at 10:17 pm

Threatening to commit murder then following up that threat with murder isn’t redneck talk – it’s first degree murder.

Anonymous

September 17, 2008 at 10:25 pm

Which would be worse? Being remembered down through history as a marytr who died unneccessarily for his cause, or as a killer who murdered his entirely blameless victim by aiming a tree at him?

Anonymous

September 17, 2008 at 10:49 pm

Being remembered as a killer would be worse, but thankfully that’s not the case here except by some extremists.

Heraldo Says:
September 17, 2008 at 8:57 pm
Good ol’ Rose sticking up for Earth First.

Yes. As a matter of fact I am. But not the cynical higher ups. Sticking up for the idealistic happy go-lucky young people who throw themselves into a cause. Using them to garner headlines and donations in your timber war is one step shy of sticking suicide vests on them and sending them into a crowded pizza parlor.

Pepper spray, and this – the people responsible for sending those kids in – those are the guilty parties. In both cases.

David Chain was one of those idealistic young people, He did not wear a suicide vest. He was killed for his peaceful idealism. You are so steeped in hatred, Rose. It is your primary emotion. David Chain was in the woods because he was motivated to save the ancient trees that he loved. He was murdered by a logger whose judgment was impaired by alcohol and elevated anger. His threats to go get his gun and his threat to fall a tree into the draw where the forest defenders were was motivated out of hatred. Maybe you and A.E. Ammons are just a couple rednecks. But, I think your commonality is hatred – unless you have taken up calling those you are angry at, cocksuckers.

Right of left, left of Right

September 18, 2008 at 6:25 am

I hear redneck talk just about every day- “I’ll kick his butt” “whoop his ass” etc but it’s not about murder. It’s about venting.

anonymo

September 18, 2008 at 6:26 am

Rose I know a lot of rednecks that don’t use that kind of language.

Herald ho ho

September 18, 2008 at 6:51 am

One of the things to keep in mind is that it takes quite a while to make an undercut on a tree, then your back cut and all untill the tree falls. Then the faller hollers “timber” and the tree comes down. It’s not like popping off rounds from a firearm. if someone is still in the area where the tree comes down they heard the saw going for oh- at least five or ten minutes depending on the diameter of the tree, then it’s really more of a question of almost suicidal action rather than murder on the part of the logger.

Red

September 18, 2008 at 6:59 am

Heraldo, you miss my point. The first thing a logger does is figure out where he wants the tree to fall, before (or she, I suppose) begins cutting. Then you cut a notch out of the trunk, in the direction you want the tree to fall. The last cut is through the back of the tree opposite the notch. Ideally when the backcut is through the tree falls in the direction of the notch. It is idiotic to talk about aiming the tree as if it were a Saturday night special.

anonymous

September 18, 2008 at 7:06 am

Well, I read the transcript. There were blank spaces where the recorder wasn’t picking up all the words being shouted by Ammons. Can you be sure that David Chain realized the tree was going to dropped into the draw? Ammons was criminally negligent in his regard for the safety of others.

anonymous

September 18, 2008 at 7:09 am

Ammons said that he was going to start dropping trees into the draw. He scored one for one that day.

lumpy

September 18, 2008 at 7:11 am

Right of Left – – it was found that the loggers were working illegally that day. PL had failed to complete a two year Golden Eagle survey in the area. They were still in the middle of the first year. The loggers wouldn’t have known that themselves. It was an oversight by the company. And the company has a lot of plans.
CDF was notified that logging had started in the area by the earth firsters going into their office in Fortuna. CDF acknowledged that the surveys were not done and that logging should cease and that they would inform PL, but said that they would not send an employee out into the logging plan to tell the foreman directly.
So the earth firsters went out to tell to tell the loggers directly. They were not running around or hiding.
After Chain was killed, CDF stopped the plan and continued the surveys.

HumRed

September 18, 2008 at 7:24 am

“maryter that died unneccessarily for his cause”, are all you people reading comic books or what. He was an idealistic kid, who had no business where he was and got killed. Tragic that a young life was lost, but you can not fix stupid. He did a stupid thing and tragically lost his life.

You can try to fix blame ect. all you want but he is still dead. He was sold this peter pan shit by others and unfortunatly bought into it.

Anonymous

September 18, 2008 at 7:40 am

It is obvious you folks haven’t actually been around a chain saw. I feel sorry for the kid and the family, but he had to have 10 or 15 minutes to move and after the logger had started the cut, it would be almost impossible to change the direction the tree would fall. It is really dangerous in the woods while they are harvesting timber.

anonymous

September 18, 2008 at 7:41 am

Read the comment previous to yours, HumRed, unless you are already hitting the skunk piss this morning and have severely limited your ability to comprehend any information that doesn’t agree with your considerable bias. You will have to agree that he had a right to be there to deliver a message on behalf of CDF

Nobody But Me

September 18, 2008 at 8:06 am

All of this pseudo-concern for David Chain is interesting.

The obligation in this situation, as specified in PL’s own rules, was for the logger to STOP WORK if there were people nearby. Instead, A E Ammons shouted threats to murder David Chain. Out of control, he then proceeded to fall a tree that caused David Chain’s death. I don’t doubt he was then sad, sad, sad that he’d actually committed murder. He probably figured he would be going to prison for life, and that can have a sobering effect.

Lucky for A E Ammons, he was working in Humboldt County, and Terry Farmer, Juan Freeman, the entire Sheriff’s Department, and the dittohead crowd here all had and have his back. That doesn’t change the fact that he is a murderer.

I hope Ammons believes in God. If he does, he knows himself what will happen to him. It’s well deserved.

anon

September 18, 2008 at 8:18 am

ok wiseguys, print the transcripts by Cathy the woods buddy and
Air or whatever his name is that explicitly state that they all knew the tree was coming down, that Chain did not want to move from what the group knew was a safe spot and several of the others were also freaked out, but that the group leaders chose to approach the logger anyway. The transcripts of Ammons rant are considered in the Farmer report, as are the transcripts of the EF interviews (lawyers were present).
If you don’t print those transcripts, you need to explain why not and
why you have any credibility if you only publish one side.

Nobody But Me

September 18, 2008 at 8:25 am

Um, 8:18, you seem to have the ability to post here. Go wild.

lumpy

September 18, 2008 at 8:29 am

8:18 – what are you talking about? No one was approaching any logger when the tree fell.

HumRed

September 18, 2008 at 9:13 am

statements made by his people who were there do not back up lumpy version. Its really funny the skunk piss, especially since I spend all day doing a job that is based on my ability to use critical thinking to solve complex problems. Most of it while interacting with between 20 and 80 people a day. As with lumpy statement your assertions seem to be at odds with the facts Cause lumpy says is subjective evidence, and as I said directly conflicting others statements.

Anon comments are always interesting. I know, cause you have a high paying job for a company that is owned by a neo-con, you have to protect yourself from retaliation. Ya right. How about lack of testicular fortitude. ( I know H)

anonymous

September 18, 2008 at 10:31 am

Ya, but you don’t know Jack.

Arcatawitch

September 18, 2008 at 12:57 pm

In my memory of that sad day and the events to follow, Mr. Ammons was never given a drug test… some of us think his manner and actions of that day indicate meth use. Don’t you wonder why he was not drug-tested and yet the forest activists were tested for drugs? What is right about that?

Herald ho ho

September 18, 2008 at 1:05 pm

Or he could just have been pissed about a bunch of city kids playing Peter Pan in a very dangerous place and harassing him and the other working stiffs.

Pissed or not, the orders from PL were to put down the weapons, uh,ur, the chainsaws when activists were in the woods. Since Mr. Ammons did not obey his orders, he will always have Gypsy’s blood on his hands and on his conscience.

Herald ho ho

September 18, 2008 at 2:38 pm

I don’t doubt it’s with him all the time. The other activists that put Mr. Chain into this position are equally or more culpable though. They’ll have his blood on their hands and conscience too- if they have a conscience.

Anonymous

September 18, 2008 at 3:52 pm

HumRed, read my post again. Think about the subtle messages hidden between the lines. Then maybe you will see that what you think I meant to convey by referring to Chain as a “martyr unneccessarily killed for his cause” and what I said about Ammons were misunderstood by you when you glanced at them earlier.

Specifically:

1) Chain would not have been a martyr (would not have died) if he had exercised ordinary common sense about avoiding an area where trees were being cut down.

2) Ammons could not have “aimed a tree at” Chain for reasons enumerated by others in messages posted before this one.

3) Referring to Chain as “entirely blameless” was my overly subtle way of stating my belief that Chain shared at least some of the blame for his death.

I don’t know how I could have been clearer, except to have written this post instead of the one I actually did post. (You know, the one with the misspelled word.)

Spooky how easy it is to read something 180 degrees out from what the author intended. Not just for you. I’ve done it myself.

Anonymous

September 18, 2008 at 4:49 pm

So, Rose Welsh – a founder of the North Coast Journal – believes that the victim’s hairstyle should play a role in whether or not justice is served? Rose, no wonder you love Bush. Rose is as dumb as W.

Anonymous

September 18, 2008 at 8:30 pm

What would happen if everybody read their own comments before submitting it? Might some comments not be submitted? Might we all be more friendly around here?

lumpy

September 18, 2008 at 9:22 pm

if they have a conscience? Is that what you said Ho Ho? Is this the Jerry Springer show?

lumpy

September 18, 2008 at 9:25 pm

Now I see why reading these comments is a waste of time. No one is interested in discussion. Just a bunch of name calling and trash talking.
You can check CDF records about the Golden Eagle surveys or call whoever you want.
And Gypsy wasn’t approaching the logger when he was killed. Obviously, he would have seen the tree running towards him. He was running away.

isn’t getting hit by a large falling tree kind of like getting hit by a train? I mean, you can tell where it’s going to go and get out of the way, right? And it takes a lot longer for the tree to come down after hearing the chainsaw. I mean, there was lots of time and warning.

I mean, you can tell where it’s going to go and get out of the way, right?

Can you? Perhaps you can tell if the trees are all being felled in the same direction, but was that the case here? Or should they have known the tree would be falling toward them since Ammons said “Go get my saw, I’m gonna start fallin’ into this fuckin’ draw!”

Nobody But Me

September 19, 2008 at 10:28 am

No, Sarah. One more time. The obligation, both moral and legal, was on A E Ammons to stop logging. After he shouted that he wished he had his pistol, though, and after he threatened to drop a tree on the activists, he murdered David Chain by falling the tree. Humboldt’s criminal justice system (read that as a justice system that is itself criminal) then freed Ammons while threatening the activists with charges.

When I was younger, I found it unbelievable that people don’t understand this kindergarten-level morality. I no longer find it unbelievable; people clearly don’t understand it.

Simply: Just because you disagree with someone’s right to be blocking your “work” doesn’t give you the right to put their life at risk and kill them.

sarah

September 19, 2008 at 10:59 am

Sorry but when I hear chainsaws and I am near ? I get out of the way. A tree isn’t infinitely tall, it is finite in lenght. No matter which way the tree is going to fall, you can go the 50,100, 200 or 300 FEET to avoid being struck.
And a tree falls SLOWLY.

sarah

September 19, 2008 at 11:01 am

“After he shouted that he wished he had his pistol, though, and after he threatened to drop a tree on the activists,”

So there’s was CLEAR warning.

Nobody But Me

September 19, 2008 at 11:33 am

I won’t comment any further. People like “sarah” are not only hopeless, but are too depressing for me to engage with them for any length of time, even on a blog. Sarah, good luck with your life. It must be rough to be you.

Nicholas Wilson

September 19, 2008 at 11:34 am

People who try to pass the blame for Chain’s murder onto “those who sent him into the woods” don’t understand how Earth First! works. No one sent Chain or anyone else into the woods. EF! has no hierarchy, no sergeants, no officers. No one gives orders. Decisions are made by everyone in the affinity group sitting in a circle, with everyone having an equal a chance to speak. Decisions are not by majority vote; they are by consensus, meaning everyone agrees. Ultimately each individual decides what he or she will do.

Investigator Juan Freeman admitted in an interview with me that he essentially coached logger Ammons about what to say so as to escape responsibility for himself and Pacific Lumber. Freeman also made no secret of his prejudice against Earth First!ers.

I wrote a series of investigatory articles on the death of Chain for the Albion Monitor, and you can still find the complete series online. The portions dealing with Det. Juan Freeman are:

The Monitor did have the sound recording of the confrontation online, and the link is still there, but doesn’t seem to be working any longer. I have the recording on file.

Arcatawitch

September 19, 2008 at 11:35 am

Once again, Mr. Ammons and other loggers were admonished by PL to put down their chainsaws when members of the public were in the woods. He did not do that. He was a very angry man that day. Many of us still believe he was high on meth.

Eurekev

September 19, 2008 at 12:20 pm

Interesting comments. It seems like if a person admits to all the things Ammons admitted to, and the Company policy is so clear, and someone ends up dead that there would have been at least a manslaughter trial. Heck, the conviction is practically done with those statements.

I’m sure there are some folks posting here that are good with this guy’s death, but are huuuuuuuuge abortion foes. You know, “pro-life.”

My favorite post though is HumRed explaining that he has to “spend all day doing a job that is based on my ability to use critical thinking to solve complex problems. Most of it while interacting with between 20 and 80 people a day.” Sounds suspiciously like Rainman explaining to Tom Cruise that he’s an excellent driver.

How many of those folks hang up on you, HumRed? Don’t forget that my house is on the “Do Not Call Registry” while you’re doing your critical thinking, okay?

Or does the critical thinking come in when you ask if they want fries with their order, or when you have to figure out the customer’s change?

HumRed

September 19, 2008 at 3:42 pm

Gosh, I deal with 10 to 40 people a day who in fact come to my office. I make money based on my ability to find and correct their individual problems. If they get a phone call 90% of the time it is my secretary confirming an appointment or from me checking up on them. I also on some days between my activities as a elected official, officer in several service clubs, chamber, or as a board member in several professional associations deal with a number of other people. You will never get a call from me as you belong to none of those things and I do no business with you.

Although I have had a number of occupations in my life for some reason I missed fast food. If I had no other options and needed money I would have done that if necessary. Honest work is honest work. Oh I get it with the change thing you were not being sincere at all, you have been trying to insult me. So the reality is your just another dip-shit anon on your lunch break running your mouth on the bosses computer. Have a good life as I am enjoying the hell out of mine.

Herald ho ho

September 19, 2008 at 5:00 pm

Well said HumRed. I’ll raise a glass to you in about 20 minutes. Have an excellent weekend!

People who try to pass the blame for Chain’s murder onto “those who sent him into the woods” don’t understand how Earth First! works. No one sent Chain or anyone else into the woods. EF! has no hierarchy, no sergeants, no officers. No one gives orders. Decisions are made by everyone in the affinity group sitting in a circle, with everyone having an equal a chance to speak. Decisions are not by majority vote; they are by consensus, meaning everyone agrees. Ultimately each individual decides what he or she will do.

EF! works very hard to convince the public that its activities are not governed by any formal institution. “Earth First! is not an organization, but a movement” is the constant refrain. “There are no members of Earth First!, only Earth First!ers.”

There are practical as well as romantic reasons to downplay any organizational structure. According to the Earth First! Journal: “To avoid co-option, we feel it is necessary to avoid the corporate organizational structure so readily embraced by many environmental groups.” Of course, most green groups engage in legal activities — and therefore don’t fear “co-option.”

While there is no primary EF! office, there are numerous incorporated Earth First! organizations, each with its own specific function. These include Daily Planet Publishing (which publishes the Earth First! Journal), the Fund for Wild Nature (formerly the Earth First! Foundation), the Trees Foundation, and the Earth First! Direct Action Fund.

For the benefit of anyone who doubts that these are genuine, legal “organizations,” consider that the website of the Fund for Wild Nature once read: “The Fund relies on invididual [sic] contributors like yourself, and your friends. We accept donations of cash, stock or other financial assets.” Here is a tax-exempt foundation making a plea for corporate securities, on behalf of a group that claims to exist without any structure.

This non-organization, which preaches “no compromise in defense of mother earth,” is very much aware of who pays the bills. The Washington Times reports that Atlanta media mogul Ted Turner, who has personally contributed to radical environmental groups, gets a free pass from EF! militants:

While a timber-cutting operation was under way on one of his [Turner’s] ranches in 1998, members of the radical environmental group Earth First! instead protested timber cutting on a nearby ranch owned by Zachary Taylor, said private investigator Barry R. Clausen, who spent a year undercover at EarthFirst.

He asked a protester why the group did not include take on [sic] Mr. Turner, Mr. Clausen said, and was told: “We cannot. That’s where our money comes from.”

“Ted Turner has canned hunts where you can shoot a buffalo … and drilling … in New Mexico and clear-cutting trees and he never gets protested. And when you ask why, it’s because he is one of the biggest contributors to extremist groups,” Mr. Clausen said.

Interlocking, Interrelated Radicals

If you want to contribute money to EF! and get a tax break on your donation, send your check to the Fund for Wild Nature (FWN). Formerly named the Earth First! Foundation, FWN serves as a tax-exempt pass-through for money to reach Earth First!ers. It has funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars to EF! organizations.

FWN has doled out money to the Earth First! Journal, Mendocino Earth First! and North Coast Earth First! (California), Elaho Earth First! (Canada), Wild Rockies Earth First!, Arizona Earth First!, and many others. More often, though, the Fund gives to EF! groups that don’t have the words “Earth First!” in their names — like the Bay Area Coalition for Headwaters (BACH). BACH’s leader is Karen Pickett, whose arrest record hasn’t prevented her from holding the purse strings for the Earth First! Direct Action Fund.

Another FWN beneficiary is the Cascadia Forest Alliance (CFA)…

The Fund for Wild Nature is by no means Earth First!’s only source of revenue. For example, the Dogwood Alliance, which claims to believe in “peaceful” tactics, has funneled money to Katuah Earth First! and other groups that work with Earth First!.

Earth First! founders Dave Foreman, Bart Koehler, and Howie Wolke are now board members, officers and/or founders of other environmental organizations. Those include: the Alliance for the Wild Rockies (Wolke); the Ecology Center, Inc. (Wolke); the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance (Foreman); the Wilderness Society’s Wilderness Support Center (Koehler); and the Wildlands Project, a.k.a. North American Wilderness Recovery, which recently merged with the Cenozoic Society (Foreman)….

But even EF! draws a line between the kind of illegal activities that can be funded with tax-exempt money, and those that are too violent for the Fund for Wild Nature to touch. Cash for these endeavors comes from the Earth First! Direct Action Fund. Bragging that “thousands of EF!ers have been arrested around the world,” the EF! Direct Action Fund’s website appeals for donations:

Direct action requires courage, commitment, training and the ability to focus on an urgent issue. Unfortunately, it also requires money. Since 1985, The Earth First! Direct Action Fund (DAF) has assisted in planning, coordinating, and funding activists on the front lines. These people are the backbone, indeed the heart and soul, of the Earth First! movement.
Earth First! co-founder Mike Roselle registered the Earth First! Action Fund as a California business in 1990, with the Action Fund’s address listed as “C/O Rainforest Action Network,” another Roselle creation. He lost control of the checkbook in settling his divorce from fellow Earth First!er Karen Pickett. But that hasn’t stopped Rainforest Action Network from supporting Earth First! groups. On one occasion, RAN donated “$10,000 of general support to Luna Media in their work with North Coast Earth First!.”

Yet another Roselle group, the Ecology Center in Montana, is also active in funding Earth First! activities. In the 1990s the Ecology Center poured more than $20,000 into Earth First!’s Cove Mallard anti-logging campaign in Idaho. The Ecology Center also supports the Buffalo Field Campaign, the Earth First! Journal, and the legal defenses of Rodney Coronado and something called the Buffalo Action Project, or BAP!…

a complete list of Earth First! organizations is impossible to compile. However, when you see the following names, think Earth First!

Earth First!ers seek to destroy industrial civilization, if not humanity itself. Writing in the May 1987 issue of the Earth First! Journal under the pseudonym “Miss Ann Thropy,” Earth First! theorist Christopher Manes suggested that “if radical environmentalists were to invent a disease to bring human population back to ecological sanity, it would probably be something like AIDS.”

The author of an article in the November-December 2001 Earth First! Journal proclaimed that he was jealous of Osama bin Laden, and that the al Queda mastermind “is riding an unstoppable current of history.” A speaker at Earth First!’s annual “Rendezvous” meeting once said that the “optimal human population” is zero.

Dave Foreman describes the philosophy that motivates Earth First! in Confessions of an Eco-Warrior:

“An individual human life has no more intrinsic value than does an individual Grizzly Bear life. Human suffering resulting from drought and famine in Ethiopia is tragic, yes, but the destruction there of other creatures and habitat is even more tragic.”

“Ours is an ecological perspective that views Earth as a community and recognizes such apparent enemies as ‘disease’ (e.g., malaria) and ‘pests’ (e.g., mosquitoes) not as manifestations of evil to be overcome but rather as vital and necessary components of a complex and vibrant biosphere.”

“An antipathy to ‘progress’ and ‘technology.’ We can accept the pejoratives of ‘Luddite’ and ‘Neanderthal’ with pride.”

“There is no hope for reform of industrial empire.”
“We humans have become a disease — the Humanpox.”

These are not just Foreman’s own idiosyncratic views, but the first principles of the EF! movement. The National Chamber of Commerce quotes John Davis, then editor of the Earth First! Journal, summing it up: “Human beings, as a species, have no more value than slugs.” And Earth First!ers reportedly sit around a camp fire, chanting, trancelike, for hours: “Billions are living that should be dead. Billions are living that should be dead. Billions are living that should be dead.”

Nope, you’re the one who made such a ridiculous statement. Please back it up.

Anony.Miss

September 19, 2008 at 9:48 pm

Young, idealistic people are the most easily influenced. Their heart is in the right place, but they rarely find the right path to make a change at that age. I am convinced that some of the ideas that yield the biggest failures were conceived by the most idealistic, yet the least realistic and experienced. The leadership needs to be responsible and level headed enough to guide the youth away from this sort of trouble.

Sending them in to be pepper-sprayed (and they knew it would happen, since it had happened once before) – is one step short of strapping on a suicide vest, heraldo. It absolutely is. And it was used to garner national headlines, and you know full well who did it. You know the names. I have to guess.

OK, but who sent them. Since you claim people can’t make their own decision and assume some giant orchestrated leadership — which you equate to suicide bombers — tell us who is responsible.

Anony.Miss

September 19, 2008 at 10:04 pm

I think young idealists do put the stops on projects they don’t fully understand, just because it looks like something they should be against. I think they do cost our local economy in the form of the traveler type of idealists.

I don’t believe young idealists ruined the logging or the fishing industries though.

Anony.Miss

September 19, 2008 at 10:05 pm

Who sent them? I think the leadership of the organizations they belong to or the “idea” that has become popular in their culture.

Who sent them? I think the leadership of the organizations they belong to or the “idea” that has become popular in their culture.

Anony.Miss, I don’t expect you to answer Rose’s patently stupid statements, but there is a difference between “leadership” and “ideas.” Rose wants to blame particular people for actions she equates with “suicide bombers.” She should name those people, or admit she’s making shit up to bolster her lame little binary war.

Anony.Miss

September 19, 2008 at 10:19 pm

I think a highly visible “movement” of an idea is as powerful as misguided leadership, in some situations.

Rose isn’t the only one waging a binary war (good name by the way). It seems to be rampant, not only in Humboldt County but also the whole US. Whatever happened to deciding about each situation based on its merits? What about saying “I don’t know” when not enough information is available with which to make an informed decision? What about ethical thinking?

“Sending them in to be pepper-sprayed…is one step short of strapping on a suicide vest…”

When overstatement isn’t sufficient, Rose repeats.

Amanita

September 20, 2008 at 11:14 am

rose – get a clue. FYI i did tree sits and activism and got pepper sprayed and ran around in the woods trying to stop loggers too.

nobody “sent me”. I was 18 and yes, idealistic but its was ALL on my own free will.

It was fueled only by growing up in a county that was, and still is, falling apart in front of us because of unsustainable and irresponsible resource use.

earthfirst! (around here anyway) its no conspiracy. its driven by self motivated individuals who see injustice and want to do something about it. its human nature for christsake! people react. and people identify and band together with others that are reacting similarly.

HumRed

September 23, 2008 at 12:30 pm

Damn, sounds just like Hitler’s Youth. Another true believer who has all the answers, no critical thinking or real experience, pure emotion.

yet another anon with insults. why not assign yourself a number so at lest you have some ID to go with your brilliant retorts. 2:07, what late lunch or that kid got off the library computer cause you know your not paying for the connection.

As usual, the crowd that claims they’re for “life”, “values”, and “personal responsibility” are eager to villify someone who dies for those exact reasons when he’s not in their political camp.

If David Chain had been an idealistic young GI in Afghanistan, blindly following an “idea” promulgated by the US administration, and killed on a poorly planned mission, they would honor his sacrifice and call him a true patriot.

HumRed

September 24, 2008 at 7:18 pm

NWAR

Anonymous

September 24, 2008 at 8:40 pm

I’m sure glad that a moron who hasn’t the brains to get out of the way of a falling tree isn’t part of a platoon defending my freedom in Afghanistan.

dreadful anonymous

September 24, 2008 at 9:10 pm

Unfortunately 8:40, you are imprisoned for life. Stupidity is a life sentence. No parole.

Anonymous

September 25, 2008 at 8:05 am

Unfortunately 9:10, Chain’s stupidity got him a death sentence.

dreadful anonymous

September 25, 2008 at 11:41 am

The executioner used alcohol and a chainsaw.

Lou

December 8, 2008 at 12:17 pm

Anonymous, You are an insensitive ignorant asshole. My brother was 24 when he was killed. He was intelligent and kind. You probably spend most of your time in the city and away from nature, but if you were to go to where Gypsy was killed you could imagine how a tree could be falling and how you would not know which way to run. He was not suicidal and he had no illusions of grandeur. He was attempting to live authentically. And I think he succeeded.

Jennifer

September 19, 2009 at 2:25 am

It is really sad to see how many people are so hateful. This country, which was supposedly founded by revolutionaries who stood to protect fundamental human rights, now breeds people who hypocritically spout patriotism while condemning it’s own people for trying to uphold those rights and the laws on which this country is founded. Those very laws which large corporations like pacific lumber and now maxxam can obviously not be trusted to abide by. Corporations which do not respect their own workers or consider the impact that over logging can and will have on the local economy of the area. No one deserves to die like that… he was being brave and not stupid. Judi Bari struggled as part of earth first in the name of not only trees but the community and it’s people; on the side of the loggers because they were part of those communities. Because the survival of the local economies, just like it always has, depends on the logging of those trees. Gypsy was a revolutionary just like Judi Bari; part of a misunderstood movement which is disregarded and demonized by those very people whose rights they struggle to protect. And for what do you justify this violent death? The rights of Corporate moguls who wouldn’t bat an eye at us struggling in our time of need; people who rape local economies by pulling jobs when resources, which have been illegally consumed at an unsustainable pace have been spent? It really is unfortunate, that more people can’t learn to think about this. Instead we buy into fear mongering and call genuine, good people terrorists for what? Gypsy is an inspiration to me… and i feel sorry for people who are so angry and hateful that all the can think to do is step on a good mans grave by justifying his death, or writing it off because he was involved with earth first. It’s so sad… It shouldn’t be like this.

Richard Wilson

July 28, 2010 at 11:32 am

The sad thing is loggers die every day. Unlike Judi Bari or Gypsy, I was a Wobbly who did labor, who actually worked the woods, the ocean, digging, breaking my back and dreaming of someday living in an anarch-socialist utopia. two weeks after Chain died, a Fortuna logger died the same way. Where were the protests by the pacific anti-logging cult? Where were the flowers?The outrage? He spends his life in the woods and the local rag puts his death on page 4, because on page 1 is news of another outsider with dubious qualities and dubious mental health.

Anonymous

July 28, 2010 at 11:53 am

Richard,

You are a brave man…I applaud you for your post. Reason is not well tolerated on this blog but there are many readers, I assure you, who appreciate common sense.

Anonymous

July 28, 2010 at 1:15 pm

“A Fortuna logger died the same way.”

The same way? Really? The Fortuna logger was protesting and an infuriated logger who made threats to drop a tree on the protesters and then actually made good on those threats and DID drop a tree on one of them? That’s not the way I remember it.

Both deaths were equally tragic, and the loss to their friends and families were equally terrible, no argument there. But in the case of the Fotuna logger who got killed, as far as I know that one was purely accidental. In the David Chain case many believe that the killing was intentional — not an unreasonable belief given the recordings of the logger making murderous threats only minutes before the killing — and at the very least it was a matter of great irresponsibility on the part of the logger to continue felling trees when he knew the protesters were somewhere in the area of the fall zone.

Sure, you can argue that the protesters shouldn’t have been there, and that they were being irresponsible, too…but the penalty for trespassing is not the death penalty, and loggers aren’t supposed to act as judge, jury and executioner.

So, you’re comparing apples and oranges. That being said, I can certainly understand the pain felt by the Fortuna logger’s family and friends when Chain’s death was so heavily covered in the media and the Fortuna logger’s death was barely covered at all. Sadly, that is nearly always the case when dealing with workplace deaths, except in a few dramatic cases like a mine collapse or explosion. But that’s not the fault of Chain, nor of his family or friends.

Certainly that logger’s death deserved greater coverage, and at least some real inquiry into whether it might have been avoidable, were corners being cut, safety-wise, etc. So I do sympathize with the fact that this man’s death was treated as a routine occurance, not worthy of much coverage even in the local press, while at the same time Chain’s death was trumpeted in the national news, as well as dominating the local press.

To the family and friends of the Fortuna logger, that must have really stung, adding insult to injury, and I can certainly understand why that bred a feeling of bitterness towards Chain and his supporters. But really, isn’t it time to put that all behind us and move forward together, as much as possible? Or should we keep reopening old wounds and pouring salt in them?

The Reasonable Anonymous

July 28, 2010 at 1:18 pm

Oh, just for the record, that was me posting at 1:15 pm. Not sure why the name didn’t pop up as it usually does…

larry evans

July 28, 2010 at 1:45 pm

Unlike Mr. Wilson, I knew Judi and I know very well that she was a person who labored for a living as a carpenter, a postal worker and a grocery clerk among other jobs. Mr Wilson clearly does not know what he is talking about in that regard.

Judi had a clearly documented record of organizing workers for the benefit of the workers, including during the time she was an EF! organizer. In one case she represented workes at a Labor Relations Board hearing after they were seriously harmed due to a toxic waste spill at the GP mill in Fort Bragg when their own union wouldn’t stand up for them.

If Mr. Wilson were an actual organizer &/or Wobblie, he would have decried the dangerous job conditions of far too many working people whose safety is risked and compromised for the sake of shaving costs for more corporate profits. Mr. Wilson seems confused on the purpose and history of the Wobblies and labor organizing in general if he is suggesting that it is the organizers to blame for bad conditions instead of the bosses making the decisions that result in on-the-job-accidents.

Of course that plays perfectly into the hands of guys like Charles Hurwitz who played timber workers and enviros against each othe long enough to loot the company assets and skip town.

Anonymous

October 22, 2011 at 5:03 pm

I was in Arcata the day after this happened, it was sad…

I remember how tense things were with the kids.

People get angry, and I get that. But Peace and Forgiveness is what we need to extend to those men.